Adonis Thomas can play a little bit. He's a fringe NBA guy, but has shown good athleticism and work ethic in the D-League and limited NBA time. He was signed to a non-guaranteed deal by the Pistons, who already have 16 guys on roster.
Here's the interesting part. Adonis told MLive.com that the Pistons' roster isn't what they expect it will be on opening night.
"The day I signed my contract, he told me, 'Hey, I know you're looking at the roster, at 17 guaranteed guys, and you're the only non-guaranteed guy or partially guaranteed guy.' " Thomas recalled. "He said that anything can change. He said, 'We're looking to make some changes soon. We're not really focused in on who's on the roster right now. We're going to let go of maybe some guaranteed guys, or we're making some changes soon, or trades could be made.' "
Source: Adonis Thomas hopes to slog through contract jam for open-to-change Pistons | MLive.com.
Seems a little weird that news that the Pistons are looking to make significant roster moves would come through their 17th guy, and hopefully this doesn't create any hassle for Thomas. He was just asking why he agreed to join a team that doesn't have a spot for him.
Still, it brings up an interesting point. Here are the guys who could at least theoretically see some time at guard for the Pistons: Reggie Jackson, Brandon Jennings, Steve Blake, Spencer Dinwiddie, Reggie Bullock, Cartier Martin, Jodie Meeks, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Darrun Hilliard.. and by the way Marcus Morris and Stanley Johnson may both play some guard as well.
That's a gaggle. A troop. If they were crows, it would be a murder.
So that the Pistons might be planning to make moves would make sense. Even if Stan Van Gundy wants to go primarily with a smallball lineup featuring three guards, they still have, let me count again... 400 extra guards on roster. We're probably not talking about big moves, but there is the lingering issue of Brandon Jennings being a starter-level guard (when healthy) set to come off the bench. They have a lot of expiring veteran deals (Blake, Danny Granger, Anthony Tolliver) to sweeten the deal. They have no extra picks coming in, but they also have all of their first-round picks to deal.
Stan Van Gundy's makeover of the Pistons hasn't been dramatic, it's been a gradual, complex process, but it seems clear from what Thomas said that he's not looking at what they have and saying "this is the team we want to go forward with." The transformation continues.